Teams & Riders Vincenzo Nibali discussion thread

[Red Rick]

Every year people look at some TT results in prep races by Nibali, think he isn't actually that good of a TT'er and then get surprised when he finishes first of the non TT specialists. He finished top 10 in all three giro TT's last year (among those a 3rd and a 4th place), before that the last time he rode a gt TT when riding for gc was in the 2017 Vuelta, where he finished 3rd. In the 2017 Giro he only finished 13th in the stage 21 TT, but that was a day after a hard mountain stage, and the only gc guy beating him was Dumoulin, in the longer and earlier TT that giro he finished 6th. It goes on and on...

But yeah Nibali probably can't sleep at night cause he is so afraid of Kruijswijk's superior TT.

I guarantee you, Nibali is gonna finish stage 14 in the top 5 and once again everyone will be shocked about what they will call "the TT of Nibali's career"

I like where this is going.

 

[Gigs_98]

I like where this is going.

NIBALI UNDERRATED

 

[roundabout]

San Marino and San Luca are a bit different in nature to this year's TT courses. Even the Verona one is different.

But yes, Nibali would probably be fine as he TTs in GTs better than in prep races.

 

[johnymax]

In the bag

 

[Gigs_98]

Just like the last time he won the Giro. It's in the bag

 

[Netserk]

Magical third week is coming

 

[Forever The Best]

Looking more and more like 2017. Kelderman will have a nice advantage before week 3, and maybe Fuglsang and Majka as well. At least Almeida does not look really strong. And Van Houcke struggled too.
Oh, and Kruijswijk was struggling again.

 

[Eclipse]

Only lost 13s on an uphill sprint finish? Sensational shape

 

[skippo12]

Did anyone really expect him to keep up with Fuglsang in a 1km uphill sprint? In 2016 he lost even more time vs Fuglsang on the same climb.

 

[Red Rick]

The Real Trofeo Senza Fine is the bag jokes we made along the way

 

[Sestriere]

Did anyone really expect him to keep up with Fuglsang in a 1km uphill sprint? In 2016 he lost even more time vs Fuglsang on the same climb.

No, I wouldn't expect him to beat Fuglsang on a finish like this, but I would expect him to maybe try to force something earlier... Not too convinced yet unfortunately...

 

[Gigs_98]

At this point this thread is hyping Nibali as much as it is making fun of him.

 

[Red Rick]

No, I wouldn't expect him to beat Fuglsang on a finish like this, but I would expect him to maybe try to force something earlier... Not too convinced yet unfortunately...

Attacking earlier was the brilliant ideas that lost him even more time 4 years ago.

 

[Red Rick]

At this point this thread is hyping Nibali as much as it is making fun of him.

Reality is today was mildly disappointing but nothing lose your mind over.

 

[skippo12]

Compared to previous GTs he finished on the podium in the last few years this was one of his better uphill sprints. Usually he loses more time. The Vuelta had multiple years with murito only routes for Valverde and Rodriguez. Time for Vegni to come up with a route without any.

 

[topcat]

In the Bag

 

[bambino]

The hard fact is he is closer to pink than before the stage. Yes, he lost 14s to some rivals in finish that has never suited for him, and gained seconds to the other magical 3rd week rider. This feels almost like victory wouldn't there be Kelderman.

 

[Sestriere]

Attacking earlier was the brilliant ideas that lost him even more time 4 years ago.

I dunno, not an expert or anything, but i feel like there's ways of making a 210 km mountain stage in shitty weather not end in a murito sprint. Let's hope that the next two weeks will be raced as planned.

 

[Red Rick]

I dunno, not an expert or anything, but i feel like there's ways of making a 210 km mountain stage in shitty weather not end in a murito sprint. Let's hope that the next two weeks will be raced as planned.

He could have made it exciting, but not without losing more time unless were talking attacking descent with entire team which is insane risk/low reward

 

[Climbing]

First week gone really well imho, I expected him way back, instead he's in front of almost everybody.

 

[Red Rick]

I fear stage 10.

 

[roundabout]

I fear stage 10.

he was 9th best out of his group today and doesn't have a history of slacking on rest days so I don't really see him losing any time

 

[Gigs_98]

Tbh, I'm not really as optimistic as most people here. Sure, the way the stage was ridden really didn't suit him, Trek tried to make it more of a long effort but didn't have the strength to do so, so the stage ended the way that suits Nibali the least, in a steep uphill sprint.

So yeah, here you have your excuse, but the reality is, even Nibali doesn't finish this stage this badly if his shape is good. As strange as it sounds, I wouldn't be as worried about this if he had worse shape on the Etna as I would see it as a sign his shape just has to gradually improve throughout the Giro. But he didn't. If anything it looks as if he has gotten worse since stage 3 and even then my thought was he has to improve to win the Giro. After today I'm seriously doubting if he can do that.

We will see. I still see Nibali as the favorite for the win, especially as Kruijswijk, the guy I would usually consider the biggest danger for him looked even worse today, but the situation isn't perfect. Seriously if the big danger everyone is talking about wasn't Wilco freakin Kelderman, I probably wouldn't have Nibali as the favorite anymore.

 

[Red Rick]

Tbh, I'm not really as optimistic as most people here. Sure, the way the stage was ridden really didn't suit him, Trek tried to make it more of a long effort but didn't have the strength to do so, so the stage ended the way that suits Nibali the least, in a steep uphill sprint.

So yeah, here you have your excuse, but the reality is, even Nibali doesn't finish this stage this badly if his shape is good. As strange as it sounds, I wouldn't be as worried about this if he had worse shape on the Etna as I would see it as a sign his shape just has to gradually improve throughout the Giro. But he didn't. If anything it looks as if he has gotten worse since stage 3 and even then my thought was he has to improve to win the Giro. After today I'm seriously doubting if he can do that.

We will see. I still see Nibali as the favorite for the win, especially as Kruijswijk, the guy I would usually consider the biggest danger for him looked even worse today, but the situation isn't perfect. Seriously if the big danger everyone is talking about wasn't Wilco freakin Kelderman, I probably wouldn't have Nibali as the favorite anymore.

I take Etna as a sign the overall form is solid. In the 2017 Vuelta he got dropped like a stone every murito while being the most consistent rider in the high mountains. The last time Nibali really performed on a climb like this in a GT was the duel with Contador in the 2014 Tour. I guess Mur de Huy 2015 was better too

Also let's not forget Fuglsang nearly beat Alaphilippe in FW last year.

 

[Climbing]

Before the start of the Giro Nibali would have payed to be in this GC situation after the first week, you can bet on it.
But yeah today didn't look brilliant, so it's a big win losing only 14 secs.